Friday, April 23, 2010

A battle lost, but a life well lived

A writer is gone. Alicia Parlette died yesterday at the age of 28. She had been suffering from cancer and now, at least, is at peace.

She told her own story through a series of incredibly moving articles, published by the SF Chronicle. They can be found online here - well worth reading for the quality and grace of her writing.

I was very taken by the way she described herself as a writer early on in the stories:

"If I get through this, this story will help me remember the important moments along the way, the details, the dizzying emotions. And, in the worst of all circumstances, if I go through this life-changing ordeal and my body just wears out and I die, I will die a writer. The one thing I've always wanted to be."

She succeeded at her dream.

Our family has been touched a lot by cancer, unfortunately, and it is continuing today, for my sister-in-law Susan and her mother. Our hopes and prayers are with both of them.